Former Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren's sister-in-law Sita Soren joined the Bharatiya Janata Party on Tuesday in a setback to ruling Jharkhand Mukti Morcha in the state. The development comes after she resigned from all the party posts in JMM earlier in the day.
She was inducted into the saffron camp at party headquarters in Delhi in the presence of party national general secretary Vinod Tawde.
Sita's name was being considered to be included in the cabinet after a new government was formed in the state following the resignation by Hemant Soren but she was not ultimately given a seat. That time reports had emerged about her disappointment with the decision but it was being speculated that it has been resolved. But her resignation now indicates that all was not well.
Sita was first elected as an MLA from Jama Assembly constituency in the year 2009 after which she rose to the ranks of national general secretary within the party.
In 2014, she again contested the polls from Jama assembly seat and once again registered her victory and again won from the same seat in 2019.
She was accused of taking money for voting in the 2012 Rajya Sabha elections and was jailed for seven months.
Resigning from JMM, she wrote that after the demise of her husband Durga Soren, her family became a victim of ignorance.
"I Sita Soren, Central General Secretary and active member of Jharkhand Mukti Morcha and current MLA, am presenting my resignation before you with a very sad heart," she said.
"After the death of my late husband, Durga Soren, a leading warrior of Jharkhand movement and a great revolutionary, I and my family have been victims of constant neglect," she added.